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Is a T.J. Watt contract coming?

Posted by Mike Florio on August 23, 2021, 3:56 PM EDT

The Steelers have a few unofficial contract rules, over and above the rules set forth in the CBA. First, they don’t negotiate once the season starts. Second, they rarely renegotiate a deal with more than one year remaining on it (except for quarterbacks and for moving money around, like they did twice with Antonio Brown). Third, they don’t fully guarantee money beyond the first year of the contract.

The first one becomes the most important to linebacker T.J. Watt, a non-practicing hold-in who is due to earn $10.189 million in 2021, the final year of his rookie deal. If the deal doesn’t get done in 20 days, it won’t — unless the Steelers violate their own rule.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has made this observation, which may be a report or a prediction, or someone in between: “Now that the preseason is almost over, expect T.J. Watt to sign a contract extension shortly after the Carolina game that will make him the league’s highest-paid defensive player.”

With Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa currently the highest-paid defensive player in new money at $27 million per year, that means Watt will be getting a major payday. If Watt will be besting Bosa by $100,000 per year at $27.1 million in annual new money, that translates to a four-year, $108.4 million extension or a five-year, $137 million extension. Throwing in the money he’s due to make this year, that becomes (at signing) a five-year, $118.58 million deal ($23.7 million at signing) or a six-year, $147.19 million deal ($24.53 million at signing).

The question then becomes the full guarantee at signing. Beyond the signing bonus and first-year salary, Watt will have only injury guarantees in 2022 and beyond, unless the Steelers deviate from their usual approach to such contracts.
Whatever the details deal may be, and regardless of whether Dulac is reporting or speculating or somewhere in between, the clock is ticking toward the pulling of the plug on contract talks. It appears that, for now, there’s no reason to think that negotiations aren’t on track for a new agreement to be reached.
 

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The Pittsburgh Steelers have trimmed their roster to 53. The reduction came mainly from releasing players. One player, quarterback Josh Dobbs, landed on injured reserve.

Gone are running backs Trey Edmunds and Jaylen Samuels, receivers Rico Bussey and Cody White, offensive linemen Rashaad Coward, B.J. Finney, Chaz Green, and John Leglue, tight end Kevin Rader, linebacker Cassius Marsh, Quincy Roche, and Jamar Watson, defensive backs Mark Gilbert, Arthur Maulet, and Donovan Stiner, punter Jordan Berry, and long snapper Kameron Canady.

As expected, former first-round quarterback Dwayne Haskins has made the team, as have rookie punter Pressley Harvin III and long snapper Christian Kuntz.

The running backs who remain on the roster include Najee Harris, Benny Snell, Anthony McFarland, Jr., and Kalen Ballage.

The roster currently has five receivers: Diontae Johnson, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington, and Ray-Ray McCloud.
 

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T.J. Watt, Steelers pushing their negotiations to the brink

Posted by Mike Florio on September 5, 2021, 10:26 AM EDT

A couple of Pittsburgh’s unofficial rules of contract engagement are making the T.J. Watt negotiations more interesting than they otherwise would be.

First, the Steelers don’t do player contracts once the season begins. Thus, either Watt and the team find a consensus in the coming days or the plug gets pulled and Watt gets paid $10.1 million for 2021, lugging the injury risk through a 17-game regular season.

Second, the Steelers don’t fully guarantee payments beyond the first year of a veteran deal. They’ll give a player a huge signing bonus to account for that, but they don’t agree to guaranteed payments for injury, skill, and cap in the second year and beyond.

Watt, we’re told, wants (and deserves) a huge guarantee, one that stretches beyond 2021. Watt also wants be to the highest paid defensive player in the NFL.
It will be easy to get his new-money average past $27 million per year, especially if he signs a five-year extension with inflated base salaries on the back end. It won’t be easy to satisfy his effort to get full guarantees beyond the first year of the deal.

Setting aside the “why” regarding Pittsburgh’s approach to guarantees in veteran contracts (they possibly don’t like the idea of putting money in escrow, even though the rules have softened a bit), it puts them at a disadvantage. Why would Watt agree to less security than other players get, simply because that’s not the way the Steelers do it? If nearly every other team does, at some point this unofficial approach to paying players will drive a wedge that can’t be rectified.

The “no contracts once the season starts” rule complicates the Watt situation in a different way. He didn’t hold out. He showed up, and they’ve allowed him to not practice or play in the preseason. Since they won’t (unless they break their own rule) do new contracts after the season begins, there’s no benefit to either side to letting him skip games while talks continue. The talks simply won’t continue.
Thus, the time has come for the Steelers to find a way to tactfully tell Watt that it’s time to start earning his $10.1 million, unless he’s willing to accept their best offer. If he’s not, who knows what will happen? If things go haywire, the team may be able to eventually blame their own internal rules for it
 
Steelers OLB T.J. Watt (holdout) returned to practice Wednesday after not participating in team drills throughout the offseason.
Watt has been seeking a contract extension throughout the summer and had only shown up to practice to do individual drills until now. With his hold-in finally at an end, it appears as though one side caved in contract negotiations. The Steelers reportedly refused to give Watt any guaranteed money beyond the first year of his extension and are typically done negotiating with players this close to the regular season. Watt's 42.5 sacks and two All-Pro nods over the past three years may have been enough to get Pittsburgh management to bend their rules this time. The Steelers face Buffalo in Week 1 and will need all hands on deck if they want to stop Josh Allen. The return of Watt at least gives them a chance of slowing the Bills' offense down.
SOURCE: Brooke Pryor on Twitter
Sep 8, 2021, 2:27 PM ET
 
Inside the T.J. Watt megadeal
Posted by Mike Florio on September 9, 2021, 7:26 PM EDT

On Thursday, Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt signed a massive four-year, $112 million extension to remain in Pittsburgh through at least 2025. It makes him the highest paid defensive player in league history.

The deal also made a different kind of history. The Steelers made a major change to the way the Steelers do things. They don’t fully guarantee contracts beyond the first year. More accurately, they didn’t. They are fully guaranteeing THREE years of the Watt deal.

PFT has obtained the full details regarding the Watt deal. Here they are, per a source with knowledge of them.

1. Signing Bonus: $35.0 million.
2. 2021 Base Salary: $1.0 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2022 Base Salary: $24.0 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2023 Base Salary: $20.0 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2024 Base Salary: $21.05 million.
6. 2025 Base Salary: $21.05 million.

The deal averages $28 million per year in new money, $1 million more than the previous high-water mark set by Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa. It also becomes the largest full guarantee for a defensive player in NFL history, at $80 million.

This year, Watt was due to make $10.1 million. He’ll now make $36 million.

He’ll make $60 million over the first two years; Bosa gets $56.75 million, and Bears linebacker Khalil Mack got $56.5 million. Browns defensive end Myles Garrett receives $43.546 million in the first two years of his contract.

Through three years, Watt will get $80 million. Bosa will receive $78 million, Mack gets $73.7 million, and Garrett will earn $62.546 million.

Also, Watt signed only a four-year extension. He’s under contract one fewer year than Bosa and Garrett, and two fewer years than Mack. The full duration of the deal (five years) means he’ll possibly get another crack at another major deal by the time he turns 30.

Bottom line? Watt got what he deserved, and he got the Steelers to abandon one of their longstanding rules of contract negotiation. It will be interesting to see whether it’s an aberration or a trend
 
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